Pakistani authorities have told a newspaper
to stop publishing photos and sermons of Al Qaeda chief
Osama Bin Laden and elusive Taliban chief Mulla Omar,
an official said on Wednesday.
Urdu-language daily Ummat has been printing
the wanted pair’s images and speeches since late
2001, when a US-led military campaign ousted Afghanistan’s
hardline Islamic Taliban militia from power.
“We have issued a notice, asking
them to explain from where they were getting these statements
by Osama Bin Laden and Mulla Omar every day,” Sindh
government spokesman Salahuddin Haider said. Haider said
the two had been declared international terrorists so
the government had a right to know from where the newspaper
was getting the material. “There are also strong
suspicions that the newspaper might be getting funds from
these groups linked to Taliban and Al Qaeda,” Haider
said.
The newspaper said it had already ceased
publishing material on Bin Laden and Omar, but denied
receiving funds from any group.
“We have received the notice on
Tuesday, but had stopped publishing the sayings and photographs
three days back,” a senior official of the newspaper
said, requesting anonymity.
